An approach to evaluation

Seoul
:
Korea Development Institute

Date

1981

Subject Country

South Korea(Asia and Pacific)

Language

English

File Type

Link

Subject

Social Development < Health

Holding

Korea Development Institute

License

Abstract

"There is little conceptual agreement today on what a low-cost health care delivery system for Korea should look like or how it should fit into the fabric of social development and there is even less agreement on the operational characteristics of such a system. Nevertheless, we must begin the task of both conceptualization and building consensus. Obviously, the most basic question is, ""what is low-cost health care delivery system?"" Equally obvious is the fact that this question is too broad and involves too many unknown variables to be easily or quickly answered at the present time. Health planners usually begin by setting goals which are drawn from the values of the society. A health plan does not clearly set forth a schedule of goals, so some assumptions must be made about Korea's societal values, namely, that korea seeks to a) protect and improve the health of her people, b) achieve this aim through an organized health care delivery system and, c) provide these health services at the lowest possible cost.Toward these ends, the Korea Health Development Institute has produced specifications for mid-level practitioners and other workers in the delivery system through their successful demonstration project. The KHDI project cannot be expected to provide full and final answers to all the major questions. But it can shed valuable light on some of them- light that can be helpful in developing a rural health delivery system. The Experimentations of the KHDI project have given us a revealing picture during its evolution from the initial phases in 1977 through its three years of operation to the end of 1980. No single project, of course, can be expected to shed more than partial light on any of the basic issues. But because large and systematic KHDI-run rural primary health are projects are still few and far between, we must be especially grateful for whatever light KHDI and the KHDI project affords. In this study, Ha Cheong Yeon makes a comprehensive review and evaluation analysis of the KHDI health demonstration projects. Then, he breaks the issue down into more manageable components with a view toward making constructive recommendations, The major components discussed are: delivery system. coverage and activity pattern, accessibility and acceptability, cost analysis/cost-effectiveness, and cost of replication requirement. Each discussion is followed by one or more policy recommendations. The present study represents the first, and so far the only, attempt in Korea to evaluate the primary health care demonstration project. As such, it represents a fresh approach to Korean social science. Given its innovative and exploratory nature, it must be emphasized that this study is only a first step in developing this approach to its full potential for steadily improving our health policy planning."